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LONG-FOUGHT EFFORT WITH USDA HAS PAID OFF, ND REAP ZONES WIN TWO-YEAR EXTENSION
12/15/2005
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U.S. Department of Agriculture Mike Johanns has reconsidered an earlier decision and will now re-designate North Dakota's two Rural Economic Area Partnership (REAP) Zones, the Southwest Zone and the Center of North America Coalition for Rural Development Zone (CONAC) in north central North Dakota.
The agency had originally planned to discontinue the designation for the zones which would have affected their access to USDA RD programs, but at the urging of Senator Byron Dorgan, Governor John Hoeven and the ND USDA State Director Clare Carlson has now decided to authorize them through 2007, a two year extension.
“This is a rare victory for rural America,” Dorgan said. “We all know the potential that hard work, big ideas and dreams can have in rural counties, because that’s where we’re from. It’s nice USDA has recognized that as well.”
“We now have an opportunity to go even further, to dream a little bigger and continue to grow the seeds we’ve planted for boosting the economies of rural North Dakota communities,” he said.
"The REAP Zones are working in our rural communities as they were intended to, enabling the citizens of these regions to address challenges to their region through cooperation and shared objectives," Hoeven said. "This extension will enable them to make further headway."
Dorgan helped create the nationwide REAP zone program in 1995 when he secured a commitment for the project during a phone conversation with then-President Bill Clinton. While the President was seeking Dorgan’s support for a hotly-contested budget bill, Dorgan asked Clinton to include the program as a way to help America’s rural counties and the unique challenges they face in spurring economic development and stemming the tide of out-migration. Today they are helping to create employment opportunities and restore commercial connection with markets, suppliers and centers of information and finance.
From that effort, Dorgan said, the REAP Zones were born, and they have since produced a trail of inspiring successes. Among them: Red Trail Energy, a recipient of a $40,000 planning grant from the REAP program that is building a lignite coal-fired ethanol plant in Richardton, North Dakota. And TechLink, he said, is another example of a collaborative business partnership aimed at expanding technology-oriented businesses opportunities in rural areas.
Dorgan said he is “thrilled” that the effort, which included data preparation from the Champion REAP Alliance Board, has led to an extension of the REAP designation.
The North Dakota REAP Zones have also worked collaboratively with other groups to advance a citizen-led effort to enhance economic development in a larger region of the state. They have been instrumental in establishing the REAP Champion Alliance, which is a partnership of the Griggs Steele Empowerment Zone, the two REAP Zones and the nine champion communities. A significant product of this effort is the REAP Investment Board, which controls the organization's operating funds, which are appropriated through HUD-EDI.
Dorgan said he is continuing to provide appropriations to the REAP Zones. This year alone he secured $400,000 in this year’s Fiscal Year 2006 appropriations bills. And overall, Dorgan has directed $3.9 million to the regions, calling it “a tremendously worthwhile investment that is building our Main Streets in a way that, I hope, will allow our young people to be a part of North Dakota’s future.” The state of North Dakota has affirmed its confidence in the effectiveness of the zones by contributing $75,000 in each of the last two biennium’s to their funding, over and above the HUD-EDI funding appropriated by Congress.
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More Info, Contact: |
Laura Every |
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701-438-2660 |
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levery@gondtc.com |
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